Deals for Days: Walmart announces sales across 3 weekends to prevent Black Friday crowds

For years, Black Friday has been marked by big sales and large crowds.

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Best Buy and Walmart are among the retailers that have seen dozens of people lining up and camping outside of stores in anticipation of major markdowns.

This year, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Walmart is doing things differently.

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The retailer announced Wednesday that it will host a “revamped Black Friday savings event," dubbed Black Friday Deals for Days.

Instead of hosting sales on one day -- the day after Thanksgiving -- it will promote sales across three weekends: the first, second and fourth weekends in November.

Walmart said it will offer “the best prices of the season on the most sought-after items on 2020 holiday wish lists,” with sales beginning online at Walmart.com and extending into stores across the three weekends.

Tires, electronics and toys will be discounted throughout the month, as well as products by brands like HP, Instant Pot, LEGO, and Roku, among others.

The move is part of the corporation’s efforts to prevent large numbers of people from swarming stores amid recommendations by federal health agencies for people to remain socially distant from others and to limit risk of the spread of the virus in a number of ways.

Walmart is encouraging online orders and curbside pickup of purchased items.

The company said team members will meter customers into stores to help reduce congestion and promote social distancing guidelines.

“When it matters most to our customers, we’re offering them more convenient and safer ways to shop Black Friday at Walmart, whether that’s from the shelf in one of our stores, ordering online and picking it up curbside or having it delivered right to their front door," said Scott McCall, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer for Walmart U.S. “We’ve been very thoughtful as we planned this year’s event. By spreading deals out across multiple days and making our hottest deals available online, we expect the Black Friday experience in our stores will be safer and more manageable for both our customers and our associates,”

Here’s what to look out for:

Event 1: Online sales begin Nov. 4; In-store deals begin Nov. 7

Event 2: Online sales begin Nov. 11; In-store deals begin Nov. 14

Event 3: Online sales begin Nov. 25; In-store deals begin Nov. 27